This invention relates to a fluid pump and in particular to a dual cylinder hydraulically operated pump for viscous materials.
Known dual cylinder pumps, in which a pair of pistons are reciprocally mounted in a pair of adjacent, parallel cylinders, have common inlet and outlet housings in which hydraulically actuated inlet and outlet valves operate. In these pumps, the inlet valves, which operate at right angles to the pump cylinder axes, are mounted on a hinged actuator sub-frame which can be swung clear of the common inlet and outlet housing. The outlet valves operate along axes parallel to the pump cylinder axes and are carried on a hinged outlet branch assembly which, in turn, can be swung clear of the common inlet and outlet housing for maintenance purposes.
This pump suffers from the disadvantage that it requires disconnection of either the feed or discharge line to enable maintenance work to be carried out on the valves. The known pumps also suffer from the disadvantage that the spacing apart of the cylinders results in a relatively complex flow pattern through the discharge line of the pump which, in turn, results in higher operating pressures and power requirements.